


the king must die

by teawriter



Category: Death Note (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, inspired by that one scene in GOT, light of the seven ost, twist to DN canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-04-01
Packaged: 2019-12-30 07:10:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18310700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teawriter/pseuds/teawriter
Summary: The room is silent. Thirty pairs of eyes fix themselves on the young man standing in the middle of the room, most prominent a judge wizened by age and experience. Beady black eyes stare the youth down— a marvel that this man is still able to hold his head so high after facing public judgement and scrutiny as a murderer.“Yagami Light. Are you prepared to stand trial and profess your guilt or innocence before the court?”AU where Light gets caught and gets a trial for his crimes as Kira.





	the king must die

**Author's Note:**

> First Death Note fic! I’m trying to keep the characters in character, but they might seem OOC at times. Also inspired by the Game of Thrones season 6 finale. If you haven’t watched it, watch it first and then read this.
> 
> I may or may not continue this as a multi chapter fic, since I am DN trash now. If enough of you like it, I might do it if I have enough time and mental energy to follow L and Light on their mental spars.
> 
> Enjoy!

Shadows dance along the walls, long dark fingers gliding noiselessly over chipped, musty gray paint and disappearing into the dark that had long overtaken the rest of the room. Every once in a while, a blinding flash of yellow or red would startle the darkness into leaving— but only for a moment.

It is in environments like these that L thrives. Sitting hunched on his futon, computer and phone off, and holding nothing but a rubik’s cube in his hand helps him think— the quiet helps him think. To review the day’s facts and think his way through the muddied mess of the case at time where the rest of the world is asleep is ideal.

He has good vision. The rubik’s cube is, for the most part, clearly unfinished; the only completed color thus far is red. The color of passion, intensity, danger— warning.

His fingers begin to twist the layers of the cube as he stares in a mindless daze. Somewhere out in the streets, a car screeches. He thinks. 

Yagami Light, university student. Son of Yagami Souichirou, police chief. A mind that matches his intellect, a most promising successor of the police chief’s position. Also extremely likely, to be the original Kira.

 

 

 

> _The room is silent. Thirty pairs of eyes fix themselves on the young man standing in the middle of the room, most prominent a judge wizened by age and experience. Beady black eyes stare the youth down— a marvel that this man is still able to hold his head so high after facing public judgement and scrutiny as a murderer._
> 
> _“Yagami Light. Are you prepared to stand trial and profess your guilt or innocence before the court?”_
> 
> _“Yes. Although....” The police chief and his family sit at the front, right behind the witness stand, with their hands connected. They tighten following the next words. “There is no need for trial. I have nothing to confess.”_
> 
> _”So do you deny that you are Kira, and that you have been responsible for the sudden inexplicable deaths of FBI agents and criminals in the past several months?”_
> 
> _”I do.” A side glance is thrown towards the back of the court, where a lone figure sits watching with an unreadable face. Amber eyes gleam victoriously. “_ _I am a university student, why would I want or need to kill anyone?”_

 

... This whole situation is quite like a game of cat-and-mouse, now that L thinks about it. Or more accurately, chess. A game in which the goal is to outwit your opponent before he outwits you, all the while using the exact same pieces.

Yagami Light. Kira. Light. Kira. Two names that identify too closely in his mind to be immediately dissociated, but still different from each other. The proof is in his calling of “Light-kun” rather than as “Yagami-kun” like he did months earlier; additionally, fifty days of solitary imprisonment was not enough to break Light— or at the very least, make him confess.

And yet...

 

 

 

> _”The_ _verdict is declared unfinished— it will resume at once, tomorrow, at ten o’ clock.” A pause. “Let’s hope we can put this ordeal to rest tomorrow, for the peace of the country._ _Court dismissed.”_
> 
> _Chief Yagami closes his eyes. Sachiko and Sayu say nothing, but their faces are wet. Misa babbles to anyone who will listen, about her boyfriend’s innocence. And L... L is the only one who sees the smirk of victory twisting Light’s face in the instant before he is led out the door._

 

The murders of criminals that matched Kira’s murder victim profile all but stopped, only barely covered by the miminal murders of petty crime offenders. His too-long conversations with Misa, even if they were together, never loud enough to be picked up by audio or close enough to the cameras to be caught doing something traitorous to the investigation. His recent reactions to most if not all of the developments of the investigation, all executed too well, too perfectly, so that it either must be genuine... or if he is a good enough actor to deceive even L himself.

And there is the _shinigami_  to consider...

Orange joins red in the spectrum of completed colors. He stops for a while, repeatedly tapping his lips with the pad of his thumb. _What do I have so far?_

Fact #1: the death note has rules, the _shinigami_ called Rem had made this clear, so that the power within it is kept in check according to another version of karma.

Fact #2: as of current there are two death notes existing. Each belongs to their respective owner, unless it is forfeited and passed onto someone else. 

Fact #3: the end of everyone who uses the death note is the same. At the end, their name will be written, and they will die. What comes after that, is not certain.

Fact #4: Light is, or had been, in contact with one such thing, and using it to manipulate circumstances to his favor. A far stretch, but not without sound reason— according to L’s memory, he had not been surprised at hearing about or seeing any _shinigami_ , and he had suggested cross-checking Higuchi’s victims with the notebook... without letting go of the notebook the entire time.

His memory is _very_ good.

A most gratifying game of chess this is, and at this point a stalemate seems inevitable.

The last square of blue slides into place. Three completed colors, and three uncompleted. L pockets the cube for now and nibbles at the tip of his thumb.

He rarely indulges in sleeping, but if the judge was right and this whole mess is to be completed tomorrow, then he needs every ounce of sleep he can get. There is still Misa to consider, after all, even if she claims she does not remember being the second Kira.

”Well, Light-kun,” he says to the empty room. “It has been fun, but it’s gone on for long enough. Let’s finish this game, shall we?”

 

 

The next day, the courtroom is even more crowded. It isn’t just the Yagami family and the judges that’s there, but the woman L remembers as Takada, some who must be his classmates from university, and quite a few supporters attending to show their devotion to Kira.

All necessary precautions were taken. Aizawa is undercover here as well, having cut his hair and shaved his beard to look unrecognizable— there is a gun in his breast pocket just in case. Aiber and Wedy are stationed just outside the building, waiting for his signal in case anything goes wrong or if the second Kira strikes. There is a direct channel to Watari open from his phone, inside his pocket.

And still the urge to tap his fingers on something, the sudden need to be doing something, lodges itself like a thorn as his confidence falters with every second. He drums his fingers on his knee, distantly recalling piano keys, and scours the room one more time.

Everyone they need is here. Or should be. And the guards are taking an awfully long time to bring Light back out.

Something is wrong.

It is eight minutes to ten. L glances at the clock, bids his time.

And then he rises from his seat to walk over to the police chief, who is standing by the window and waiting.

”Yagami-san, I’d like a word, please.”

Yagami Souichirou’s eyebrows knit together in alarm. “Has Kira—”

”No, not yet. But this is something of equal importance.” The judges are coming in. “There’s something wrong. Look around and tell me who you don’t see.”

A sigh. “Not now, L. The trial is about to begin—“

”Light-kun is not here. Neither is Misa-san. I guarantee it isn’t simple coincidence that neither of them are present.”

”Perhaps Misa is simply running late, she has a movie to film after all. And Light, well... there can be complications to this kind of thing, I suppose.”

”It’s quite convenient to have sudden complications right before the trial that puts your sentence in stone.” 

L waits for his words to sink in. It is easy to pinpoint the moment that they do, because Yagami’s eyes widen the moment his own stomach begins churning.

One of the greatest tools a detective can have, apart from hard evidence, corroborating stories, and sound deductive reasoning, is instinct— there has not been a moment since the first case L solved that he hasn’t used his. Which means that ugly suspicion rising in the back of his mind matches with the facts he has and the pits of quiet, anxious horror growing at the base of his stomach— which means...

”Light-kun is the son of a police chief; he has helped you put countless cases to rest, countless criminals behind bars. He understands the consequences of his absence, and yet he is absent anyway. Misa-san can perhaps be excused from this, since the public knows her only as Light-kun’s girlfriend, but if we take the premise of her being the second Kira, then that will mean both suspected Kiras are not here.” The doors are closing. Five minutes. “And the fault is unlikely to be the court’s, judge Nakamura made it clear that this trial was to begin at ten sharp. This is no simple coincidence, Yagami-san. Light-kun is not here, which means he does not intend to suffer the consequences that await him.” 

Yagami stares at him, mouth pressed into a thin line and clearly not wanting to believe the cold truth. He must; if he doesn’t, everyone in this room is in danger. If he doesn’t, everyone in this room will be victims of yet another of Kira’s schemes. Three minutes. 

“Nakamura-san will not listen to a civilian, but he will listen to you. Tell him to postpone the trial; Light-kun’s judgement can wait another day. For now, we all need to leave.”

He does not wait for Yagami’s answer, but steps into a corner of the room with his phone to his ear. “Watari, did you hear that?”

 _“Yes, L. Aiber and Aedy shall be informed immediately_.”

”Thank you.”

Four minutes. Light is still not here. The people are starting to murmur, looking around, half-curious, half-nervous. 

“Aizawa.” The man jumps to attention, turning in his seat. “Go to the doors. Get them open, and make sure everyone gets out.”

”Kira,” Aizawa understands. His hand flies to the lapel of his suit jacket. “Is he about to kill again?”

”It seems likely. Our priority is to get these people out safely. Once we do that, we will regroup at the station.”

It’s ten o’ clock. Light-kun has not arrived.

L barely sees Yagami leaning over the barrier, talking in lowered voices with the judge. His hand clenches and unclenches around the rubik’s cube in his pocket. _Light-kun, what are you planning_?

His phone comes to life again. “L, the security system has already been disabled and according to Wedy, the emergency lock down measures have been inputed. She cannot get past them.”

”And Aiber?”

”Neither can he.”

10:02. The judge and Yagami are arguing now, their voices barely heard over the clamor of voices raising increments at a time. 

“What’s going on?”

”Why isn’t Yagami here?”

”The trial should have started two minutes ago...”

 _Rattle, rattle._ “... The door is locked. The door is locked, it’s not supposed to be _locked_!”

A most gratifying game of chess this is, and a most nerve wracking, obscure one as well. L sees the pieces through a haze, sees Light guiding Misa and his other black pawns forwards as both offense and defense. A razor-sharp smirk replays in his head like a broken record, and through the fog clouding his mind... L finally understands.

The black king, mimicking the moves of his opponents and picking off his opposition one by one. Who has decided to pull off his own gambit.

”Watari, call everyone back to the station.”

This was the plan all along. Eliminating his opposition while gathered in one place, with one killing blow, never mind the collateral damage caught in the crossfire. This way, Kira will be absolute. This way, a new order made in Kira’s image will take over.

 _Fact #5: Yagami Light is Kira_.

10:05. The court is in panic. Half of the room blocks the doors in an attempted to get out, the other half at the windows and yelling for passerby to notice their distress. The judges are sitting down, with the exception of Nakamura, and watching calmly. Yagami storms away from Nakamura, face crimson, and ushers his wife and daughter out of their seats. “We are going,” he says. “We are leaving.”

L’s phone vibrates— he tears it out of his pocket in a frantic daze, but the text he sees is not from Watari. The image that blinds him is Light, chained in his cell, and the smirk slowly crawling up his face as his eyes glow red.

 

 

 

> _I win._
> 
> _— Kira_

 

He looks up in time to meet Aizawa’s horrified gaze. And in the next instant, the courtroom erupts into flame.

L’s last thought before darkness overtakes him: there are rules to the game that keep it in check, that keep it from spiraling out of all control. In the end, even the most enthralling of games must come to a close.

In the end, even the king must die.

 

 

 

_Shuichi Aizawa._

_Dies at 10:06 from an explosion in the courthouse._

_Nakamura Yukichi._

_Dies at 10:06 from an explosion in the courthouse._

 

_Yagami Souichirou._

_Dies at 10:06 from an explosion in the courthouse_.

 


End file.
